Category: In the News

Every person I interview says they feel morally obligated to buy at least a cup of coffee when they’re working at a cafe, to justify the place they’re holding down.

On that note, Deena Levenstein, a Jerusalem-based writer and founder of the Facebook group “Things to do in Jerusalem,” says, “I’ve been 100-percent freelance for the past eight months, and I love it. But I get depressed, less productive, when I’m always at home. I’m always thinking of where to work. But I’m also uncomfortable sitting for hours in a cafe without the management’s explicit okay.”

Levenstein approached David Ehrlich, owner of Jerusalem cafe Tmol Shilshom, and received permission not only to work there on a regular basis, but to announce to her Facebook group that laptop workers may consider one of the rooms there a hub.

“More and more people are working out of cafes and hubs these days,” explains Ehrlich. “We’re not in a Viennese coffee house of 100 years ago. We’re in Jerusalem 2015, and it feels right to accommodate these customers. I think it’ll be good for business.”